Well done NOVA. Earth From Space, a NOVA documentary detailing the information revealed about Earth through satellites, is a must see. The visual images of the atmospheric processes and natural phenomenon are the best I have seen and really show the inter-connectedness of the environmental processes on Earth. Follow this link to watch it on YouTube.
Download the HD version here or buy it here.
An overlooked resource of immense importance, soil provides the foundation upon which agriculture can exist. However, there have been many studies produced in the past decades which warn of the depletion of this resource. Although it is renewable, the rate at which soil replenishes itself is around one to two inches per hundred years since the weathering of rock takes forever. Sources indicate that humans are eroding the topsoil ten times faster than it can be renewed. What does this mean? Either humanity consumes all available soil or it finds a way to fix the problem. One fix could be the commercial production of soil or a soil aggregate which allows soil to regenerate at a speed to keep up with human activities.
Thus, an industry poised on the verge of enormous growth is soil manufacturing. The production and maintenance of healthy top soil, filled with necessary micro-organisms and chemicals, will be of paramount importance as our natural supply beings to dwindle. Perhaps in the future, this soil will be sold in enormous quantities on Earth and space colonies. There are already several companies producing relatively small amounts of soil for urban projects and gardening. But, considering the scale of human agriculture, these companies are lacking. One example is Midwest Trading (video of the facility and soil manufacture).
For more information on soil and its importance to agriculture consider the following books and links:
Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations by David Montgomery
David Montgomery talking about his book (YouTube) Also on Vimeo
Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth by William Bryant Logan
The Control of Nature by John McPhee
Very interesting video on “Where are we going? And what can we do?” about financial markets, critical points, ecology, biology, and other issues of the Anthropocene by Didier Sornette. Humans are growing at a super-exponential rate, so what does this mean? He also points out the importance of non-linear behavior in markets and the concept of Dragon-Kings. Also, here is a link to a good interview with Sornette thanks to ZURICH.MINDS.
For anyone interested in watching some of his lectures, here is a link.
Could technology be the beginning of the end for human civilization?
Possibility the entire infrastructure of modern civilization relies on manipulations of the electron through complex technologies. A wise idea would be to prepare the Earth for at least one year without a single amp of electricity. The big question is: How can we support all current human life with no electricity? If that one year began today the result would be anarchy, downfall of civilization, and loss of life. Now that we are in a position to preemptively avoid such a disaster, we need to install a “backup generator.” How or what is to be done? Great minds working together should be able to come up with a solution.
To emphasize this potential danger, I propose a book. This book would actually consist of at least one year of journal entries. These entries could be posted through a blog. And for one year I would post the life of a character who is living through this theoretical world of no electricity and no technology. What if I could find another author who would detailed the life of another person in another culture with the same global events. Two stories, two perspectives, same events.
In this book, the failure of technology would be caused by an intelligent and hostile alien race. They would have mastered the human race’s social and biological characteristics. Through this mastery they would be able to target our tools and electricity but not our electrical nerve impulses. Human civilization and its survival is entirely rooted in the manipulation of the electron through various technological tools. The resulting unrest caused by anarchy would deflate the “artificially” inflated human population. This can be seen dramatically through an analogy with Native Americans, whose populations and societies suffered from disease, thus making invasion by outsiders easier.
This is a very rough draft of my entire idea. Consider Solar Storms.
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